The euactinomycetes are a subset of a large and complex group of Gram-positive bacteria known as actinomycetes. Over the past few decades these organisms, which are abundant in soil, have generated significant commercial and scientific interest as a result of the large number of therapeutically useful compounds, particularly antibiotics, produced as secondary metabolites. The intensive search for strains able to produce new antibiotics has led to the identification of hundreds of new species.
Many of the euactinomycetes, particularly Streptomyces and the closely related Saccharopolyspora genera, have been extensively studied. Both of these genera produce a notable diversity of biologically active metabolites. Because of the commercial significance of these compounds, much is known about the genetics and physiology of these organisms. Another representative genus of euactinomycetes, Micromonospora, has also generated commercial interest. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,181 (Ohkuma et al.) discloses a dibenzodiazepinone compound, specifically 5-farnesyl-4,7,9-trihydroxy-dibenzodiazepin-11-one (named “BU-4664L”), produced by a known euactinomycetes strain, Micromonospora sp. M990-6 (ATCC 55378). ECO-4601 (Compound 1) and Micromonospora sp. strains 046-ECO11 and [S01]046 are disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 10/762,107, incorporated by reference in its entirety. ECO-4601 was also disclosed in Charan et al. (2004), J. Nat. Prod., vol 67, 1431-1433, and Igarashi et al. (2005), J. Antibiot., vol 58, no 5, 350-352. Its use for the treatment of cancer is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 10/951,436 and 11/130,295, both incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Synthetic dibenzodiazepinone analogs were disclosed in the published Canadian patent application 2,248,820 as having anti-histamine properties.
Although many biologically active compounds have been identified from bacteria, there remains the need to obtain novel compounds with enhanced properties. Thus, there exists a considerable need to obtain pharmaceutically active compounds in a cost-effective manner and with high yield. The present invention solves these problems by providing new therapeutic compounds and methods to generate these novel compounds by post-biosynthetic chemical modifications.